Vacuum cleaners typically have an on board dirt container for receiving and storing dirt and debris that has been sucked up from a surface that is being cleaned. Periodically the dirt container must be emptied and this can be an undesirable task for the user. It is known to increase the volume of the dirt container by providing a compaction mechanism in the dirt container. Examples of compaction mechanisms are shown in EP 1 671 569 and US 2008/0263815. This squashes the contents of the dirt container and increases the effective volume of the dirt container and means that the dirt container can be emptied less frequently.
A problem with the compaction mechanisms is that a user may have difficulty emptying and operating the compaction mechanism particularly if the user is operating the vacuum cleaner in a confined space. Furthermore the vacuum cleaner may move or topple over if the user attempts to operate the compaction mechanism in an awkward position.
Embodiments of the present invention aim to address the aforementioned problems.